


Wandering Dog

by Kalira



Series: Modern Meetings [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dogs, First Meetings, KakaYama Week 2020, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24085801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: Tenzou is busily at work in his garden, enjoying his time with his plants, when he is interrupted by first an adorable dog and then his rather more than simply 'adorable' master.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Yamato | Tenzou
Series: Modern Meetings [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751260
Comments: 17
Kudos: 111
Collections: Kalira's KakaYama Week Stories (2020)





	Wandering Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [KakaYama Week](https://kakayamaweek2020.tumblr.com/post/190752626837/we-are-happy-to-announce-kakayama-week-2020-the), Day 1: Modern AU
> 
> I wasn't sure I'd write anything for this initially - modern AUs aren't usually my game exactly - and then I wrote this, and two more parts to follow after it, in one night a couple of months ago. The next two parts of it will be up on Day 3 and Day 6 of this Event Week!

Tenzou hummed to himself contentedly as he carefully deadheaded the rosemary, encouraging it to grow - though rosemary hardly needed much encouragement, and the tallest stalks of the plant were already more than waist high. He laughed and patted the earth around its base gently, entertaining a fanciful imagining that he could see it swaying towards him in cheerful thanks.

He shook his head a little and moved on, thinning out the mint a little - he would dry some for tea, it was far too thick and it would only put out more anyway - before leaving it be. He worked through all his herbs in their sheltered beds, tending each one and ensuring it had the best conditions to grow. He harvested stalks of a few more of them as he went, keeping the bundles separate in his wide, flat harvesting basket.

When he finished the herb garden he rocked back on his heels and rubbed a hand over the back of his sweaty neck. He surveyed the rest of his garden with a pleased smile, plan already in mind for where he was moving next.

Tenzou moved to the irises; they needed little tending at the moment, but he pulled away dead leaves and petals regardless, and he trimmed back some of the roses’ branches as he moved on amongst the flowers.

“Oh!” Tenzou startled as tan muzzle suddenly appeared in the midst of the crocosmia. “Well, hello there. . .”

A floppy-eared dog with darker rings around his eyes trotted out of the flowers and right up to Tenzou where he knelt. “Who do you belong to?” Tenzou asked, holding out his hand cautiously for the dog. He’d always liked dogs.

The dog snuffled his hand, tail wagging, and Tenzou tried to get a look at the broad fabric collar he wore. There was a metal plate on it, but all there was on it was an etched, stylised leaf and a diamond with a blocked-out grid in it. Tenzou frowned. “Well that isn’t very helpful.” he told the dog.

He wagged his tail again. Tenzou laughed and scritched behind the dog’s ear. “Well, perhaps-”

“Bisuke! _Bisuke so help me_ if you don’t _get back out here_. . .”

Tenzou looked towards the front of the house, brows rising. The man continued to call and. . . The dog’s floppy ears had pressed down a little more and he was looking guiltily sidelong towards the street, where the calling was coming from.

“Mm _hm_. So _that’s_ where you belong, is it? Bisuke?” Tenzou said, and the dog whined softly.

Tenzou rose and Bisuke backed up a little. Tenzou shook his head and made his way towards the nearer of the gates out of the back garden to the front, winding between the small peach trees that grew along the narrow way by the house.

“Hello?” Tenzou called as he swung the gate open and stepped out. “Are you looking for a . . . dog.” He swallowed thickly, trying not to stare.

“Yes!” The man turned towards him, and Tenzou’s eyes darted up from the spiralling crimson tattoo on his well-defined upper arm to his face. He was wearing a mask over his nose and mouth and an eyepatch across his left eye under the fall of his wild silver hair - it had the same stylised leaf on a metal plate as was on the dog’s collar - and Tenzou tried not to stare at his face either. “Is he in your garden? I’m so sorry, they normally stay with me,” he huffed, “or at least listen when I call.” he finished almost under his breath.

“I think so.” Tenzou said, finding his voice again, though it was a little breathier than usual. “Ah, would you . . . like to come get him?” he invited, stepping back.

“If you don’t mind. . ?”

“Come in.” Tenzou invited with a smile, leading the way. His smile widened as he heard the startled sound behind him, and he turned to see the man looking around with a wide eye.

“Oh this is. . . You have an amazing garden.”

“Thank you.” Tenzou said with pride. “I love my plants.” He ran a hand over the little bell-like flowers of the swaying foxglove, then moved deeper into the garden. “Bisuke, was it? He was over here.”

“ _Bisuke._ ” the man scolded sharply, and the dog whined, then bounded towards his master with a big grin, barking playfully. Tenzou smothered a laugh, watching the man as he crouched and held out a hand to his dog, eye creasing with what looked like a smile hidden behind his mask. “Thank you. Ah, I’m Kakashi.” He raised a hand towards Tenzou. “Sorry for him.”

Tenzou clasped it. “I’m Tenzou. Don’t worry about it. I-” he broke off as Kakashi rose, still holding his hand, and wound up standing very close. Kakashi wasn’t much taller than he was, but his lean body and his spiky hair made it feel like he was looming over Tenzou, just a little. It wasn’t wholly unpleasant.

“Yes?” Kakashi prompted, smiling again, even as he released Tenzou’s hand with a light swipe of his callused thumb over Tenzou’s hand.

“I . . . like dogs. And I’m glad you found him so soon.” Tenzou said with a smile that felt very awkward.

“I am as well. We just moved in a few streets away, Bisuke might have lost himself somewhere.” Kakashi looked down at Bisuke, who pressed himself against his master’s calf, looking as innocent as a dog could look. Tenzou smothered a laugh.

“We?” Tenzou asked carefully.

“Me and my dogs.” Kakashi said, eye sparkling. “There are eight of them.”

Tenzou’s eyes widened. “Oh my.”

“I train therapy dogs.” Kakashi said, tucking his hands in his pockets. “Though I don’t have any at home right now. Only my eight.”

“Only.” Tenzou repeated before he could stop himself. Kakashi laughed, soft and rumbling, and Tenzou swallowed. “Erm. Welcome to the neighbourhood.” He glanced down at Bisuke. “Maybe I’ll see more of you. All of you.” he said lightly.

“I would like that.” Kakashi said, and Tenzou blinked, startled. “Perhaps you would be willing to tell me about your garden sometime.” he suggested almost cautiously.

Tenzou smiled immediately. “I love to talk about my plants. Most people don’t want to hear it any more.” he said wryly. “I’m a field assessment botanist, and in the off-season I work in the greenhouses at the university.”

“Well I would be delighted to hear you talk about your plants, Tenzou.” Kakashi said, tipping his head. “It’s fascinating to hear people talk about their passions.”

“I’d love to meet the rest of your dogs . . . and hear about your job. Training therapy dogs?” Tenzou gestured. “That sounds difficult . . . but rewarding?”

“Ah, it is! But it doesn’t actually keep this one and his brothers fed.” Kakashi said, a bit of pink tinting his cheeks above his mask. “I’m a photographer by . . . well, whenever is convenient, really. It’s not exactly a day job.”

Tenzou laughed and nodded, and Kakashi smiled at him again. They talked for far longer than Tenzou would have anticipated before he eventually walked Kakashi out of his garden and the man trotted down the walk with Bisuke, now, keeping obediently at his side.

Tenzou watched him go - admiring his long-legged, lean frame as he moved - and then shook off his own preoccupation, scolding himself. He glanced towards Kakashi once more, then headed back into the garden. Still. . . He hoped they really did see each other again, later, that he could spend more time with Kakashi, who was both charming and . . . more than a little gorgeous.

Tenzou sighed distractedly as he knelt and started checking through all the growing tomatoes, his mind lingering on wiry muscle - that of Kakashi’s bare arms, and that hardly disguised under Kakashi’s tight sleeveless shirt - and . . . a playful grey eye, the warm hand that had wrapped around his own, and the soft, deep voice as they spoke.


End file.
